Having wondered about the Jet Age's influence on the naming of Cameron's Webster XL-747, you have to wonder about the Space Age influence on these two Sottsass Olivettis. They could easily have been the first typewriters in space, if styling is anything to go by. I have never seen anything like them before, and now two at once.

The leather-look trim on satin metallic echoes SLR camera design, the covering aids grip. But the font on the keys of the machine above is pure sci-fi and much more at home here than it was on the Valentine. For these reasons, and my complete lack of a portable Olivetti, I'm tempted... if only they weren't priced so highly.

The pmc elite is the better looking (and has a silver/black, leatherette case!), but the DL has the Olivetti logo up front. Is the pmc a licensed clone?

I think they are stylistic variants based on the prolific Lettera 32 print engine.
The best info I can find is on DE SCHRIJFMACHINIST.

Friday, 28 October 2011

The individual ribbon covers on my 1947 Underwood Noiseless 77 are one-piece plastic, not two-piece painted and chromed steel like the older Remington Noiseless Portables I have, or the Remington Rand Model 1, for that matter. Because the ribbons wind onto a built-in core without the need for a spool, flat ribbon covers are useful in keeping the ribbon neatly wound and coiled. You can see from the picture above how haphazardly the ribbon's wound.

These plastic tops are warped like Pringles. Is this the reason the coils of ribbon are bunching up in places? I think the tops are molded thermo-plastic and I'm wondering if weighting them on flat surface after a minute in boiling water might help to set them back as flat discs. Advice welcome...

Wednesday, 26 October 2011

Back in July, I shared photos of three typewriters which cost very little money. All eBay. All fell in the "nothing to lose" price bracket:

First, a British-made Corona-Empire. Approx £9. Works fine. I don't like it - not sure I'd want to inflict it on someone else, so probably won't sell it. I may give it away. Then again, I might just need more time to get used to its ways. At least it doesn't take up much room.

Another Brit. This time Hull's finest Imperial Good Companion Model 5. £0.99p. Despite pristine paint and innards, this typewriter had been dropped and the soft case didn't offer much protection. I spent a long time fixing the space bar and it will work properly... one day. I can't complain, the seller rescued it form a skip. Right now, it is a 'work in progress'.

Finally, an Underwood Noiseless 77. £15. I just picked this up from its half-way house where it has languished for the last three months. I already had a brace of earlier Remington Noiseless Portables and their awkward cousin, the Remington Rand Model 1. Three heavier, less quiet machines you'll never find. And of course the Remington Noiseless was an Underwood Noiseless made under licence. You have to love it when something is made and sold with such hope and promise, despite falling so short on most counts. It is not really a Remington, nor is it Noiseless in any generally accepted sense of the word, and Portable? Put it this way, I wouldn't like to have to run for a train with it! Surely, this explains why a genuine Underwood-badged 77 seemed such a good idea.

First impressions: surprise! Pretty much like a Remington. Solid and crisp controls for everything except typing, which hesitance of touch is an acquired taste - that's the famous 'silent' treatment at work - it is pretty amazing how it works. This post-war model has the finger-friendly plastic key tops and stealth matt paint job. Compared to the Remington incarnation, the return lever has the élan of a fencepost. And the bobbin-tops are plastic too. But this WAS 1947, even in the USA - post-war austerity and all that. Still, it is built like a tank and to an impressively high standard. I'd do a typecast to show how it types, but it is late and it would make too much noise.

Two anomalies: the $ key produces a £ sign, and the cent key produces the slashed c it promises. Obviously there was some confusion in the final assembly about which side of the Atlantic this one was headed for - so the assembler compromised. Or was it a cunning US imperialist plot to assert a new currency on an unsuspecting British public. 64 years later and we still aren't ready to part with our £.

Tuesday, 25 October 2011

I'm not sure I have a novel in me, so no NaNoWriMo for me. But I know there are a lot of writers out there sharpening their pencils, oiling their various writing irons and generally limbering up in readiness for some serious wordsmithing in November's Na(tional)No(vel)Wri(ting)Mo(nth). Brave souls. Good luck.

My second cousin writes a little and he shared a link today to what I thought was a useful looking mag, especially aimed at aspiring writers. If you are interested, you can get a paid hardcopy subscription or the e-pub for free. Words with Jam.

Removing the left-hand rear dust cover reveals the motor and what I'd originally thought was a retaining collar for the clockwork motor's spindle. At second glance (and in better light) I spotted a worm gear. A drop of oil and a trial and error turn in both directions and voila! No more sticky tabs and enough pulling power wound into the spring for the carriage to move briskly along to the set tab. If I hadn't had all the covers off again for a more thorough cleaning of the paintwork, I'd probably never have spotted that worm gear.

I hope this is of help to any other Royalists (aristocrats? typocrats?) with sluggish carriages. This fix took two full rotations of the motor spindle to load the spring sufficiently. To save straining yourself with heavy carriage returns or stressing any parts, slightly over-wind the spring first and then gradually slacken it off until there's just enough tension.

Friday, 21 October 2011

Though the rock-hard platen is the perfect paper perforator - confetti of little 'o's fly off the type heads - the Royal KHM's almost running perfectly.

But there's a problem with the tab brake. Unlike some older machines, this machine has a cork brake pad which slows the carriage down as it disengages the escapement to rattle down the rails to meet up with its set tab. It is actually a pretty sophisticated solution!

Trouble is that pressing the keyboard tab button actuates the brake a bit too fiercely. It brakes the carriage's motion to the extent that it never actually arrives at its station. You can see the surface which the cork pad actuates on in the photos. The pad itself is hidden away in the campanology department. A problem like cycling AND braking at the same time.

The video below shows what happens when the space-bar is used, then the tab button. You can see the problem when I press the space-bar a few times, then the tab, then repeat. No tabs are set. Any advice on how to overcome this would be extremely welcome!

Thursday, 20 October 2011

Well, I have dusted, polished and oiled this old Royal and in the process found out a few things:

Why's it so heavy? That's a cast iron body!

Typewriter covers are sort of OK, but not as effective at keeping the dust out as a proper box. Good reason to stick with portables?

Adwoa: the cover is one-piece alloy with hinged ribbon tops (re-coined 'bongos' from now on). Not hinged but bolted on. And I honestly don't have space for this typewriter either...

Mike: thanks for the pointers. The ribbon advance is actually driven by the clockwork motor. Incredible, ingenious! Disconnecting the carriage strap and pulling and releasing it you can watch the ribbon inch its way along.

Richard: soft lighting hides a multitude of defects. The paintwork isn't up to usual Royal standards. The front plate especially has a slight 'orange peel' look about it - not dead flat.

Matt: the top left lever is to enable free-spooling from left to right - it disengages the ribbon drive. This will help when re-spooling fresh ribbon.

The Royal KHM is an amazingly well-designed and built bit of pre-WW2 machinery.

Most things started to work once the dust was cleared out of the segment and the carriage tracks were hosed down. But there's stuff that still needs attention, like the strap tension. Can't figure out how to adjust it - any advice welcome - or I could just wrap the strap around the drum twice? It is good enough to advance the carriage during normal typing but not strong enough for tabulating. The fiddly bell-ringing trigger is only sort of half-working - a solution'll come to me though. And one side panel's been backed into by something - needs careful bending so it lies flush.

Back story on this one is that my friend had it getting on for forty years after his dad brought it home from a place he'd been working. It was used for essays and college work but was forsaken by a switch to a Selectric when he went into fanzine production in the '80s. Needless to say, the ribbon works but badly needs replacing. Lowercase 'o' punches holes in it from time to time - interesting effect but that's some serious ribbon fatigue.

[Addendum: I get questions about the ribbon advance and why it might not be working. Yes, half inch ribbon is fine but you do need spools as illustrated showing top and bottom views. Unlike most other typewriters, the advance is not connected to the ribbon vibrator but to the travel of the carriage.]

Tuesday, 11 October 2011

After much gratefully received advice and encouraging words, Type-O-Matic is open for business! Having been a long standing advocate of impressing ink upon paper, I'm beginning to think of this service as something akin to printing. Mono-printing? And with such grandiosity, I believe I may have turned the spare bedroom into a potential Printing Office - of sorts. Hence the stirring address below, courtesy of Ms Warde. Once my first customer crosses the threshold, I'll feel justified in hanging this on the wall.

Wednesday, 5 October 2011

First off, thanks for the feedback on Type-O-Matic to everyone! I have had really valuable responses by comment and e-mail. What a brilliant community the Typosphere is. And nobody laughed me off the park. You are either too kind or as deluded as I am. I don't care, and I try not to judge. So, I have merged duplicate responses and taken the actions indicated below, as well as a few fiddly bits. If you haven't commented but want to, don't be shy. I'd still love to get feedback. Meanwhile, watch this space, as they say.

I'm considering Type-O-Matic to be in Beta. It is public but not launched because I'd like some feedback and advice from the good folk of the Typosphere. That's you, dear reader.

I'd be extremely grateful if you could spend a few minutes checking out the service and letting me know what you think. Of course, you aren't the intended market for this service, but you are all well-placed to have opinions which I'd really value.

I have intentionally kept the site as simple as possible, but I'd especially value feedback on the home page and the way the service is described. I know I really should try to get a little movement on there, possibly in the info-graphic?

Monday, 3 October 2011

...you know, checking our stats on the YouTube, as you do. Discussing the new channel screens and double-tapping to go full screen. You know, that sort of thing, like. Then the YouTube home page shows THIS sprawled across the banner for some creative agency. Like Richard's recent comp, if it isn't typed, it doesn't really count.